11 December 2025

Leibniz Prize for Frank Pollmann

Prof. Frank Pollmann has been awarded the 2026 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation (DFG). He conducts research at the Chair of Theoretical Solid State Physics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and is part of the MCQST cluster. The researcher is receiving the prize for his outstanding scientific work in theoretical quantum physics.

Frank Pollmann investigates the fundamental properties of condensed matter and how quantum mechanical effects influence its behavior. His research focuses on quantum many-body systems, in particular topological phases, frustrated and strongly correlated spin systems, and non-equilibrium quantum dynamics.

To gain a deeper understanding of the physics of these systems, he uses and develops tensor network methods and concepts of quantum information. These enable exotic orders and new states of matter to be identified and precisely characterized. He also uses quantum computers and develops quantum algorithms to efficiently simulate such complex systems.

Frank Pollmann studied physics at the Technical University of Braunschweig and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and received his doctorate in 2006 from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPIPKS) in Dresden. He then conducted research at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2011, he began leading a junior research group at MPIPKS. In 2016, Pollmann was appointed associate professor and in 2022 full professor at TUM.

Awarded by the German Research Foundation, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is considered the most important research award in Germany. This year, the prize will be given out to ten scientists. The winning scientists can use the prize money of 2.5 million euros for their research work for a period of up to seven years.

Text adapted from the TUM Website.